walker



s. WJWALKER.

. HURSE RAKE.

No. 65,778.. Patented June 11, 1867.

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STEPHEN w. WALKER. or ANso-N, MAINE.

Letters Patent No. 65,778, dated June 11, 1867.-

IMPROVEMENT IN HORSE-RAKES.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CQNQERN:

Be it known that I, S'l'l-JPHi-IN W. WALnIiln of Anson, in the county of Somerset, and State of Maine, have invented an Imprnvmnent in Wooden Teeth Horse-Rakes; and Ida hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the drawings which aceonipanyand form part of this specification, is a description of my invention sufficient to enable those skilled in the art to practise it. The invention relates to that class of horse-rakes havingstraight wooden teeth attached to heads or bars which swing loosely and indepeiulently on a shaft or bar running parallel to and generally a little above the axle-tree of the wagon. 'lhese implements are generally known under the name of the Delano Horse-Rake," and I believe form the subject of the United StatesLetters Patent No. 6,151, ofFebruary '27, 184:9, granted to C. Delano.

In said Delano coustrpction, and such modifications of the same as have been heretofore made, the tooth is always attached to its head or bar by a rigid connection, so that-the position or angle of each tooth with respect to the bar is fixed and determined, therobeing no capability of yield in the tooth itself. Such construction or arrangement, however, is defective in that it is often desirable that a tooth should yield'easily in an upward direction, or without haying to lift the head or bar to which it attached, as when passing over uiulnlatin, ground or against slight obstructions; and the object of my invention is to make provision for such direct movement or yield of each tooth or set of adjacent. teeth, to accomplish which I hinge each tooth or set of teeth to the lower end of the head orbar, and apply a spring just inside of this hinge, such springs while holding the teeth in normal position, allowing each set thereof to yield upwardly with respect to the head or bar. and it is this construction which constitutes my invention. 7

In carrying out such construction I prefer to arrange'the teeth in series, with three or four teeth -to each set, as I find the teeth operate more advantageously upon the hay or grasswhere three or four are connected and move together, than when each tooth is independent from the other teeth in its act-ion. I therefore represent in the drawings one set of teeth with the head or swing-frame to which they are attached. a series of these frames placed side by side, and swinging on a common shaft, making up, with the wagon, the whole rake, the general arrangement and mode of operation, aside from my invention, being not unlike the Dela-n0 rake, to which reference has been made.

. A denotes a plan and Ba side view-of a set of teeth applied to the swing-frame in accordance with my invention. no a a denote four wooden teeth connected together by a rod b, and making up one set of the series, the rear end of the teeth entering a rocker-shaft, 0, having journal-pins, which turn freely in bearings cl. at the lower end of the frame or head e, the upper end efwhich frame is so applied as to swing freely on the horizontal rod mount-ed over the wagon axle-tree. From the connecting-rod or bar bit rod, f, extends upwards and loosely through a cross-piece, g, of the frame e, this red having a screw out upon its upper end, upon which screw a nut, It, plays, and having beneath this cross-piece, a spring 1', one end of which bears against the under surface of the cross-piece, while the other end bears against the head of a fork in the screw-rod, the stress of-the spring tending to keep the teeth in normal position relatively to the frame e, the angle of the teeth to the frame being determined by the nut It. Now it will he obvious that while, the teeth are thus held normally in position by the spring and nut, each setof teeth yield readily to any unevenness in the surface at the ground over whielrthey operate without having to-lift the frame e, and without liability to stick or catch in such uneven surface. .Each individual tooth may be applied in this manner, butI consider the arrange nient shown to be preferable.

I claim the combination of the frame 0, rods f, springs 2', and teeth a, arranged and operating substantially as described.

s. W. WALKER;

Witnesses:

F. Gounu, J. Cnosnv. 

